Christopher DeGroff flying his 1/2a Scale F4F Wildcat, built from the Brodak kit.
By Fred Cronenwett
The weather once again played a role in the scheduling for the flying portion of the 2024 AMA Control Line (CL) Scale Nats. Each pilot can fly a total of four times to determine their overall score. The two best flight scores are used to determine the pilots’ final scores at the end of the contest. Due to the weather prediction for Sunday, July 14, it was decided to fly all four rounds between Friday, July 12, and Saturday, July 13.
With Round 1 completed today, pilots can see where improvements need to be made to get a better flight score. So, with three rounds left, each pilot can make changes, if possible, to improve their overall flight score points. The static score can’t be improved upon.
1/2a Scale and Fun Scale will be close, as they are based upon the flight and static scores that were posted after Round 1. Not everyone was able to get a flight in today in Team Scale and Sport Scale.
The 1/2a flying proved once again that the real challenge with 1/2a Scale is getting these small engines to run properly and fly 10 level laps. It’s not as easy as it looks. Dave Betz had to do some engine tuning to get his Pawnee to fly correctly.
There is a .25-point difference in the high static score in 1/2a between Mike McHenry and Allen Goff. Even though Allen has the highest static score, Mike has the highest flight score to date. If Allen can get a better flight score than Mike, the standings in 1/2a Scale will change after more flights are done.
Fun Scale has a 1.5-point difference between the author and Pete Mazur. The static scores are typically very similar, but one really good flight score can change the overall score. The Fun Scale standings are anyone’s game at this point, with three rounds left.
Note from AMA: Do you have photos from the Nats that you’d like to share? If so, email them to Clarissa Poston at clarissap@modelaircraft.org. Please include a brief description in your email, naming any individuals pictured in the photo(s), the name of the event that the photo(s) were taken during, and the name of the individual who took the photo(s). Your submission(s) might be posted on AMA’s Flickr page, which can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/modelaircraft/albums!